Uncertainty

Two. Elevators

Two.

As I walked up to the giant doors of the hotel, I began wondering how I was here by myself and why Will hadn't come with me. I was incredibly nervous (something I shouldn't have been). Nevertheless, I was there all by myself without Will. I considered him my safety blanket, always there when I needed him the most. Even though he is a major loser, he is my best friend. I began to become even more nervous.

(Two days earlier)

"But, Will! What if I can't handle myself and make a snarky comment that they don't like and fire me?" I began to panic. Knowing me, when I went to go meet One Direction to discuss the tour, I would not be able to keep myself from throwing sarcasm into their faces as soon as I made eye contact. It was sort of a bad habit of mine.

"They are boys, they would most likely play along. They wouldn't fire you because you have a 'sparkling personality'." He made air quotes with his fingers. "I can't go with you, though. I'm meeting with their management at a separate hotel."

"Ugh, another thing that will be added to my stress bucket." My 'stress bucket' is just a list of things that either make me nervous,  sick to the stomach, or (obviously) completely stressed out. This meeting went straight into my stress bucket.

(Back to present)

"Why did I ever agree to this?" I mummbled to myself, annoyed. It seemed as if annoyance has been my main emotion for the past few days. I don't like to be annoyed, but sometimes I am. It was just simply happening too much lately.

I stepped into the elevator, pushing the fifth floor button. A foot blocked the elevator doors just as they were about to close. I mentally screamed. I was almost fifteen minutes late for the meeting. They probably hated me already and I didn't even get to annoy them yet. I was just a mistake that they could fire-

I looked over at the person who was now standing next to me. They were breathng heavily and bent over, looking a bit green. Were they running to get to an important meeting? Maybe this person was some huge rich guy and if they died a whole company would spiral down. Probably not, but with my luck, you'd never know.

I meekly stepped aside, trying to get a good look at the person's face. I spoke to them in a concerned matter, "Are you aright? If you pass out, I know CPR. Okay, not really, but I can blow air into you and punch you in the gut until you wake up again."

They chuckled, though it was a bit muffled and forced through their heavy panting. The person stood up and I realized it was a young boy that could have been a bit older than me. When they turned to face me, I instantly took a step back. The hand bar connected to the wall of the elevator dug into my back painfully, but I didn't move. That face, I know that face.

"I don't think that'll be necessary, but thanks for the offer...?" He paused a moment as if asking me for my name. Humor glinted in his eyes and I could tell he was imagining me trying to revive him by punching him in the gut. What a funny little fantasy. One day, I'd like to make that a reality. Except, he won't be passed out. I'll just be punching him in the gut.

"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider- I mean, stranger. Pfft, I didn't just quote Spiderman. It's not like that show was my childhood or anything..." I scoffed sarcastically, if that is even possible. Why was I so nervous? Being nervous is not part of the real Ray Kanard. I momentarily thought of Will and how he would be laughing at this situation. When I get home tonight, I'll punch him in the arm because I know he'd find this funny as hell.

"I'm Louis Tomlinson by the way." He grinned and stuck his hand out for me to shake. His perfectly white teeth made his smile look fake and forced. I took his sweaty hand in mine and shook it firmly. I moved around so that the bar was not pushing into my spinal cord. It was almost if my spinal cord itself had sighed in relief.

"I know who you are. I'm Rayleigh Kanard, the artist that will be touring with you for the next year." I said in a tone indicating that he should know who I was. I mean, he should know me, right? They did, in fact, hire me.

"Rayleigh? We didn't hire a Rayleigh. We hired Ray Kanard, the lad who's meeting the boys and I to discus the tour today. And you don't look like a lad." He smiled sympathetically at me, as if I were a lost puppy who just wanted to be loved and cared for. Screw that. I wasn't a fangirl trying to sneak on tour with One Direction. I'm doing this because I have to. I'm being on my very best behavior right now and he is making this extremely difficult.

"I go by Ray Kanard. It's an alias of mine. Rayleigh didn't fit my style, so I put Ray on everything that has information about me." I explained to him.

"You're Ray? But, you're a girl." Confusion knitted his eyebrows together as he stared at me. Didn't I just explain this to him? I forced myself not to ball my hands into fists in frustration.

"You do know Ray is a unisex name, right? Did you even consider that I may be a girl? And why don't you know who I am, what I look like and my background information. Those are the types of things you look into when hiring somebody." I tapped the side of  my head with one finger, indicating the phrase 'common sense'.

I found this situation unsettling. Though I didn't show it on my face, I was very uncomfortable. They didn't know who I was. How was I supposed to know if they would like me, would treat me with respect on tour, or if they would just ingore me through the entire tour because I wasn't the type of person that they socialized with (or something like that). I could be completely alone for a year. An entire year.

"We considered it, but we doubted it. This is a nice surprise, though." He grinned from ear to ear. Soon enough, he began to laugh so hard that his eyes were watering. He looked ridiculous.

"What's so funny?" I crossed my arms. I wasn't super mad, but I was mad enough to carry a measurable amount of irritation in my voice. So far, first impressions are that they aren't very smart people.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm just thinking of how the rest of the lads will act. I think I took the information pretty well, but I can't imagine that the other's will be as calm as I am." He smirked as if he knew something I didn't.

"What's that sopposed to mean?" I inquired, slightly confused. Was it such a big deal that I was female? Were they the kind of people that thought men were the superior race?

"I'll have them explain it to you."

Oh how I dreaded that sentence.

(~♥~)

Author's note:

This chapter was just a large conversation wasn't it? But it took me so long to finish because of school and I wanted Ray's personality to be just perfect. I didn't want to show too much of her 'radiant' attitude, but I did show quite a bit. Tell me what you think of Ray! :)

What an interesting relationship that is blossoming between those two. What do you think will happen in the next chapter when she meets the rest of the boys?

I hope you found this interesting enough to read all the way through :) If you have read this far comment "Curse those meddling kids!" down below because I absolutely adore Scooby Doo. It was my childhood. (but I still love to watch it)

I love your face!

-Savannah R.